


One day at a time

by BrightestSun



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Existential, F/M, Fluff, drinking on a monument in Paris, just a conversation between Chat and Ladybug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 08:34:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16594490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrightestSun/pseuds/BrightestSun
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir talk about their superhero lives and experiences over a flask of wine.





	One day at a time

Ladybug felt the cold autumn wind brush gently against her, barely moving her pigtails, barely breaking the silence of the Parisian night. They called New York the city that never sleeps, but Paris seemed to have put on its nightcap and set the alarm clock as it neared 3 am.

The dotted hero sighed gently, rising to stretch her arms and back. Around the clock patrols had been her idea, now that their roster of heroes was starting to resemble a small army, it was possible for them to coordinate it so there was always at least one hero patrolling, always someone making sure that it was possible to alert the others, always someone standing on some high vantage point in the cold, wondering why she kept forgetting to bring a book.

At least her skintight suit was surprisingly warm, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the wannabe superheroes who had started popping up. Taking cosplay one step too far and actually taking their homemade costumes out into the night and trying to help the cause. She could only imagine a poor girl or guy standing in a ladybug costume made of latex, just freezing to death as they tried to emulate their favorite hero. It would be cuter if the last two Akuma hadn’t been there would be heroes, feeling indignant about being told they couldn’t actually join the ranks. Ladybug let another deep sigh escape out over the empty city.

“A lovely lady sighing her heart out. Forlorn and missing her favorite superhero?”

The playful voice behind her surprised her for only a moment, she turned to give a gentle smile to Chat Noir as he gracefully landed next to her. He leaned up against his staff nonchalantly, his smile gentle and genuine.

The red-clad hero placed a hand on her hip and shook her head, “Chat Noir, you’re messing up my shift order, you’ll be too tired to patrol after Carapace if you skulk around the streets now.” She tried to sound harsh, but her face betrayed her, she was obviously happy that he was there, just to have some company on her graveyard shift.

Chat Noir shrugged “don’t worry m’lady, I’m a cat, I tend to stay up all day and night, sleeping only when I find a nice sunbeam to lie in.” he sat at the edge of the Arc De Triomphe next to her, stretching out his arms and emulated sleeping in the bright moonlight.

Ladybug chuckled “I think your sunbeam could use more sun.”

The sleeping kitty laid on his side “on the contrary, the radiance of my Ladybug is warm enough to sustain me forever.” He winked at her playfully.

She scoffed, pushing him off the side of the plateau, smiling as she heard his surprised yelp and the scraping sound of his claws against the stone monument. His gloved hands made their way back to the top and he opted to carelessly hang from the stone wall, resting his chin on his hands while the rest of him stood comfortably against the stone wall. “Just can’t stop falling for you m’lady.” He said with a dreamy schoolboy sigh, which made Ladybug chuckle.

She sat on the edge next to him, facing the same direction as him. “careful kitty, I’ll end up pushing you again.”

He shrugged nonchalantly “as many times as it takes to prove my love and devotion.”

Ladybug shook her head “so really, why did you come here? Even you probably aren’t out prowling this late. At least I hope not, sometimes I have to wonder what kind of people I’m letting on my team, especially now that I can actually weigh my options.” She said teasingly, stroking her chin as though pondering.

This time it was the dark cats turn to scoff “please, as great as they are, it’s not like anyone could take the place of the original, the best.” He shone a cocky grin at her. She chose not to tease him about sounding like he was selling some kind of cereal. “Besides, I didn’t just happen to come here, I wanted to see you.”

“Oh? What about?” she placed a knee below her cheek, looking down at him and wondering as always, if she was dealing with the punny, mischievous Chat, or the serious, slightly depressed version. She’d come to like the second version as she was starting to see more of him, he was undeniably the more genuine article.

“Well, I couldn’t sleep and when my phone alerted me of a Ladybug sighting on top of the Arc De Triomphe I knew it was a sign that my triumph in the game of love was at hand.” He beamed.

Ladybug shook her head, the first version then, “I’m not up here for social calls, we have to stay vigilant in our fight against Hawkmoth.”

Chat rolled his eyes “yea, God forbid someone ends up short on change at the local 7/11 and throws a tantrum, or someone has a nightmare and turns into the Nightmarer!” he stroked his chin “actually that one could totally happen…”

Ladybug chuckled “that actually sounds terrible, and we’d have to deal with the physical manifestation of everyone’s nightmares just because some Joe Shmuck had a stressful dream about work.”

Chat allowed his head to fall on the stone slab “think Hawkmoth ever sleeps?” he said exasperatedly.

“I freaking hope so!” the pigtailed girl rubbed her eyes “if not then he’s just, what? Standing in a room waiting for someone to stub their toe 24/7.” Ladybug let her head fall back, looking up at the moon with a frown “I think I’d be a villain too if that was my life.”

Chat chuckled “isn’t it? With this patrol, we’re basically just sitting here in the middle of the night waiting for someone to have a bad night.” His face grew more serious “we can’t keep doing things this way m’lady.”

Ladybug let an exasperated sigh enter the night sky as a puff of white smoke “I know! Ugh…” she scratched her hair under her pigtail in annoyance “but what can we do?” she looked down at her oldest teammate with a light pout and a faint hope that he somehow held all the answers.

He smiled, letting his hand slip down to the side of the wall before bringing something up, the characteristic sound of a large glass bottle hitting a stone slab clinked harshly against the night air “drink with me!” his smile was so wide it reflected the moonlight.

Ladybug felt her heart sink, letting a loud groan shatter the silence. She’d been naïve to think for a second that he was going to be really helpful, but still, at least he could take this seriously. Or maybe he couldn’t, she honestly wasn’t sure how his mind worked.

The black-clad hero swung himself up, sitting next to her on the flat stone plateau, opening the bottle of wine and expertly filling a glass, setting it down next to him and starting on another.

Ladybug rolled her eyes, best not to engage him when he got like this. Still, her curiosity got the better of her. “Where’d you pull that from anyway?”

He shot her a grin “I know you patrol this place a lot, so I put it here a while ago, hoping we’d get a chance to share a glass. Have a few others stashed away in choice locations. Unfortunately, this place doesn’t have a cheese platter, sorry about that.” He shrugged apologetically while Ladybug tried desperately to figure out if he was joking or not. Chat held a glass out towards her expectantly, the red liquid moved ever so slightly in its new container, creating a strange effect as the moonlight reflected in the dark, swirling liquid.

Ladybug looked at the glass cautiously “I’m not getting drunk with you Chaton.” She said defensively.

He looked at the bottle for a moment “I think I should have brought a bigger bottle if I wanted us to get drunk. With 4 percent and about two glasses each, I think we’ll be barely tipsy.” He said pondering.

She chuckled “drink much wine?” she asked, trying to sound accusing but honestly just curious.

He shrugged “when the situation calls for it, which in my case is surprisingly often. Doesn’t help that my kwami exclusively eats cheese, and you can’t keep having water with cheese.”

Ladybug shook her head “at least cheese and wine is supposed to be healthy, my kwami’s caused me three cavities since I got her.” She knew well that Tikki would say that her penchant for sweets didn’t have to extend to her, but having to carry around candy at all times was too much temptation for the blue-haired baker’s daughter to handle.

Chat Noir stroked his chin thoughtfully “three cavities within the last three years, might be able to find my lady’s true identity if I follow this new clue!”

“Oh shut up,” she said jokingly, pushing gently at his shoulder.  She noticed the hand still extending the glass towards her, Chat’s emerald eyes sparkling as his face fell into a begging pout. She sighed as she took it, “one glass, just to shut you up. And we’re not making a habit of this.”

“That sounds like a yes on the first front, and let’s put it as a solid ‘for now’ on the second” he beamed broadly, making her roll her eyes again.

Ladybug brought the glass to her lips, allowing the red wine to fill her mouth. “Blegh!” she stuck out her tongue as the bitter taste invaded her senses “this is awful!”

Chat stifled his laughter, taking a short sip of his own glass “not exactly a wine connoisseur?”

Ladybug scoffed and shook her head “never tried it before, I don’t know why I thought it’d be sweet.”

“Well, it bears the color of the sweetest superhero in all of Paris, its false advertisement if you ask me.”

Ladybug took a careful second sip, it wasn’t so bad now that she was better prepared for it, still, she couldn’t believe people considered it the drink of choice for parties, everyone had to be miserable and thirsty. “You’re right, Rena Rouge really is the sweetest on our team. We’re so lucky to have her.” She took a quiet moment to teasingly ignore Chat Noir’s sour expression.

As more wine touched her lips, the dotted hero got slowly used to the taste. She wasn’t sure if she was feeling anything from it, she honestly knew nothing about drinking at all. She might have had more time to let herself go at parties in the past if not for how much Paris needed Ladybug. Whenever drinking happened around her she always envisioned being needed and showing up to save the day, only to find she was too drunk to fight crime.

She let her finger run along the rim of the glass as her thoughts went through some of the experiences she was missing out on because of Ladybug. She knew there were many factors, but she had to believe that if not for Paris needing her ready to jump into magical spandex at a moment’s notice, she would have been able to finally tell Adrien how she felt a long time ago. It seemed like something always came up, something always stopped her from really experiencing life as anything but a spectator who occasionally needed to pop out while the rest of the movie kept running.

She looked to her partner, surprised at his silence, more surprised to see him staring wistfully out over the city of lights. She let him sit for a moment, taking in the atmosphere before gently breaking the silence “what’s on your mind Chaton?” she asked with a hint of concern.

The cat themed hero sighed deeply, then gave her a morose smile “well, I’ve wanted to sit here and drink wine with you, staring out over the city and talking for… well, since I met your kind of” he shrugged “now I am and I’m happy but…”

Ladybug let her head fall to the side curiously “but?”

“… but all I can think about is that well…” he looked up towards the moon “what if an Akuma actually did appear, and that one glass of wine was enough to dull your senses just enough to make you unable to dodge a deadly attack.” He closed his eyes, clearly envisioning the terrible scenario, “what if I lost you because I wanted to have my little fantasy play out.” His shoulders sank as he let out another sigh.

Ladybug wanted to assure him it was fine, but it was hard to ignore the similarity to her own fear. Knowing that her partner felt the same way, that he’d surely also made sacrifices for the sake of this city, it made her feel a bit less lonely. She was really lucky to have someone to share everything with, to not have to go through this experience alone. She placed a hand on his shoulder “I don’t plan on getting myself killed, you’d be completely lost without me.” She gave him an assuring smile.

He chuckled darkly “you’re not wrong.”

“For what it’s worth though, I think I’d be completely lost without you too.” She said sincerely.

Chat looked up at her with a confounded expression, a rare moment of seeing the kitty completely stunned by words. His head fell in a soft chuckle and his clawed hands found his eyes, wiping away forming tears “thanks… I think I needed to hear that tonight…”

Ladybug took a deep breath “think he has someone to talk to like this?” she asked, leaning back again and taking in the beautiful full moon. “Hawkmoth I mean.”

Chat shot her a confounded look at the change of topic “Hawkmoth? Well… I guess we don’t know much about him but… I can’t imagine he does. Not exactly a winning personality, doubt he’s surrounded by friends.”

Ladybug nodded “I thought so too. It’s honestly impressive that he hasn’t given up. A dozen heroes patrol the city, and with every new attack we get closer to being a well-oiled machine, meanwhile, he continues with the same tactic, hoping beyond hope that ‘this time it’ll work for sure’. It has to be demoralizing.”

Chat Noir took a moment to think it over “Very. I wonder if he even thinks he can actually succeed at this point, it’s been a long time since he even came close. And yet, every single day a new Akuma or two or three.”

“If nothing else, you have to admire his determination” Marinette smiled sarcastically.

He scoffed “I don’t think its determination anymore. I have to believe that he just doesn’t know how to quit. He’s like my dad, even if the whole world is telling him he’s wrong, he’ll continue right down that path, not just because he’s stubborn, but because he literally doesn’t know how to quit.”

Ladybug raised an eyebrow at him “maybe your dad IS Hawkmoth” she said ominously.

Chat Noir chuckled “you know for a second I did think he might be, but I’m afraid it’s impossible.” He finished his wine, filling his glass again.

“Darn” Ladybug said sarcastically, sipping at her glass whenever she forgot how awful it tasted. “Thought we finally had him.”

“I mean, we can take him in but it wouldn’t do much except reveal my secret to you” he smiled coyly “but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make” he posed dramatically with his hand against his forehead.

The red hero scoffed “still no kitty, we can know each other’s secrets when Hawkmoth is dealt with, but not before then.”

“Darn” Chat mimicked her, making her smile.

“It really had to be demoralizing, seeing our squadron.” Ladybug mused “think he’ll try finding ally’s of his own?”

Chat Noir chuckled “yea right, how? ‘sad and angry old man seeks sadder and angrier people to yell at teenagers.’ As I said he doesn’t seem like the social butterfly type.”

“Ironic” Ladybug chuckled “but you’re right, I can’t imagine how he’d find others crazy enough to help him terrorize an entire city for their own personal gain.”

Chat scratched his chin “angry, sad, selfish and crazy. Maybe he’ll show up with an army of Americans.”

Ladybug burst out laughing “oh God could you imagine? An army of Yankees coming over the horizon, yelling about freedom fries and toting guns?” Ladybug shivered at the thought.

The two allowed the laughter to fill the air for a moment before the silence reminded them of their ever-present problem. It was like a weight on their shoulders that never left for more than a few moments at a time. Not a heavy weight mind you, but after three years, it was starting to weigh on them, not because it had grown heavier, but because it was growing evidence that it may never go away, like an injury that healed incorrectly.

Chat finished his second glass, “Do you think there’s a way to actually break through to him? Offer him a truce like ‘if you stop and just do literally anything else with your life, we’ll let you go with no punishment, just end this.’?”

Ladybug shook her head “it’s a nice thought but… I don’t think he’d ever give up his kwami, and we can’t allow it to stay in the hands of someone so awful. It has to be so terrible for him, being used for evil purposes every day. More than anyone, he’s the victim in all of this.”

Chat went silent, “sorry… I…”

She shook her head “it’s ok, it can be easy to forget about the little casualties, but they are ultimately just as important, if not more so.”

Chat Noir nodded, a smile of admiration spread across his face “You really are the best hero Paris could have hoped for,” he said with a satisfied sigh.

Ladybug’s eyes widened at the seemingly genuine, non-flirtatious compliment. She exhaled through her nose, placing a hand on his shoulder “I try to be, but remember, I’m nothing without my team” she returned his genuine smile, happy to see him blush and look off. She knew better than anyone that taking a genuine compliment was hard.

Chat’s mouth pressed into a thin line as he tried to form his next words carefully “listen… there’s something I’ve really wanted to say for a long time…”

“Oh?” Ladybug cocked her head to the side curiously.

“I…” Chat shut his eyes, clearly struggling to get the words across his lips. An explosion of darkness and the sound of the howling wind interrupted them, making them look down below the monument where a humanoid figure stood, clad in dark shadowy robes, their body covered in moving shadows and their only visible feature a red mouth contorted into a horrified grimace.

“Huh…” Ladybug looked down at the strange figure “nightmare Akuma, you nailed it Chaton.” She looked to him, he looked completely crestfallen. She found herself smiling sympathetically, placing a hand against his chest “hey, tell me afterward. I promise, as long as there’s Akuma left to snag, I’ll be here.”

Chat Noir took a deep breath, getting to his feet and finding his smile “and I’ll be by your side.” He said confidently.

The two exchanged nods before letting themselves drop from the huge monument, mentally preparing themselves for what was undoubtedly going to be some manner of facing their greatest fears.

 


End file.
